Trump Says U.S. Will Not Endorse G7 Statement Approved Earlier

Nellie Chapman
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10 June, 2018, 09:28

MORE rebuked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday, saying that the US will not endorse a joint communique signed with the other Group of Seven (G-7) members at this weekend's summit and seemingly threatening to impose further tariffs on the country.

The US president did not appear to be listening during some of the trade presentations, another G7 official familiar with the meeting said.

"We are focused on everything we accomplished here at the #G7 summit", a spokesman for Trudeautweeted.

Just hours after agreeing to the joint communique with his G7 allies, the US president tweeted from his plane that he had told his officials to abandon American support for the document in an eye-opening move that could threaten the future of the club.

"If they retaliate, they're making a mistake", Trump told reporters in a short but stern remark. "Canadians, we're polite, we're reasonable, but we will also not be pushed around". He also reiterated his call for Russian Federation, which was ejected from the G8 after its invasion and annexation of Crimea, to be readmitted to the exclusive club of industrialized powers, saying his predecessor President Barack Obama was responsible for Crimea being lost.

G7 participants were also angered by Trump's stance on climate climate - a key issue on the group's agenda. Minutes after that statement was published online, Trump complained about comments made by Trudeau and revoked his support. Trump said he was discussing two types of sunset provisions in which any of the countries could leave the deal.

"If the expectation was that a weekend in attractive Charlevoix surrounded by lovely people was going to transform the president's outlook on trade and the world, then we didn't quite perhaps meet that bar", Trudeau said. "Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!"

In the comments that later angered Trump, Trudeau closed the summit with a strong rebuke to the USA president's threats on trade, saying they were "kind of insulting" and warning that Canada would issue retaliatory measures beginning on July 1. "Very dishonest & weak", he said of the Canadian leader.

"It is not something we are even remotely interested in looking at, at this time", he said.

Trudeau later said he reiterated to Trump that tariffs will harm industries and workers on both sides of the US-Canada border. "The president will continue to say what he says, on various occasions", said the prime minister.

Trump's reversal, announced while he was en route to Singapore for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, sent his G7 partners scrambling.

Canada and the European Union have denounced the USA tariffs as illegal and unjustified and Ottawa has proposed levies on a range of US goods next month while the European Union has pledged its own retaliatory measures.

While the two men have had several seemingly congenial meetings and phone calls since Trump took office, they could not be more different in terms of policy, with Trudeau a progressive liberal, outspoken on feminism and the merits of diversity and who was close to former president Barack Obama.

"We need the president to be able to distinguish between our allies and adversaries, and to treat each accordingly", he said in a statement.

The US team would not countenance signing off on a pledge to implement the Paris Climate accord, which Trump's Washington wants no part of.